G1 Trailbreaker (Encore)

Robot Mode: Trailbreaker is one of the original 1984 line of Transformers robots (or rather a re-issue thereof) and as such has many of the features typical to that year. His posability, while above-average for a 1984 toy, is very limited. He can bend his legs back individually at the hip and move his arms more or less freely. As such he's better off than many other toys of that time, but not much. Again like many first wave toys he comes with an abundance of extra parts. His fists, missiles, and the big whatever behind his head are all separate parts and easy to lose. Trailbreaker can launch his missiles from his arms (just like the fists) or fix them to his shoulders.

As far as resemblance to the cartoon character goes, Trailbreaker does quite well actually. Okay, he's lacking the humanoid facial features that cartoon Trailbreaker head, but apart from that he's a pretty close match. So all in all Trailbreaker stands out not only as one of the biggest figures from the original wave of Transformers toys, but one of the better ones, too. He makes for a very nice robot.

Alternate Mode: Trailbreaker transforms into a Toyota 4WD Hi-Lux camper truck. The early G1 figures put a lot of emphasis on realistic-looking vehicle modes and Trailbreaker pulls this off very nicely. The car offers lots and lots of details such as a chromed front bumber, break lights, and other stuff. If you didn't know it, you'd be hard-pressed to tell that there is a robot hidden inside (unless you're looking at the underside).

The vehicle even features a cockpit, hailing from its original incarnation in the Diaclone line, where you could seat one of those little golden driver figures. The cockpit isn't exactly in scale with the vehicle, but that's not a big thing. Anyway, a very nice, very realistic-looking vehicle mode. No complaints.

Remarks: Trailbreaker was one of the original 18 crew members of the Ark in the G1 cartoon and appeared in quite a few early Transformers episodes. He never took center stage, though, and his most famous task is probably saving the Autobots from death in space by way of his force field in the double episode "Megatron's Master Plan". The Marvel Comics didn't award him a big role, either, but he had a pretty impressive showing in the Dreamwave comics, where he beat up Grimlock (who had turned on the Autobots at that time) and even withstood a kick from Devastator. He also made an appearance in the 3H Productions Universe comic and a recent IDW Spotlight. Still, Trailbreaker is not among the most prolific or famous Autobots by any definition.

As a toy, though, Trailbreaker is among the better of the early G1 figures, featuring both a very realistic vehicle mode as well as a decently-posable robot mode. And while there is nothing particularly spectacular about him, he is a very good example of the strenghts of the original Transformers toys. You can get the Encore version relatively cheaply, so do yourself a favour and get one.

Rating: B+